


The White Winter War

by SaintImperator



Category: Monsta X (Band), 걸어 | All in - Monsta X (Music Video)
Genre: all in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-01-31 17:40:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12687057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintImperator/pseuds/SaintImperator
Summary: So I've had this idea in my head ever since watching the All In Video and wanted to try writing about it and using it as a starting point for a world and a long story. Please note that all mention of anyone's family members or anything is done for narrative purpose and not a reflection of how they are in the real world- for the most part same with the band members. It's very much based on their performance in the music video.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive any spelling errors- it's NaNoWriMo and I don't have much time for editing!

               We were the last boys left in town with any strength to speak of. Somehow the seven of us just kept falling between the cracks. Minhyuk was hopeful, and always swore that we would be the lucky ones. The draft had simply overlooked us and we would never be called up to the front. Everyone knew this was foolish, and boasting like that in front of the families who’d already been forced to send their sons away bordered on cruel. He would never intend something like that, but there was just no stopping him. When he was happy, as he nearly always was, he shone. His brightness effected everyone he came across, whether he meant for the light to cast shadows or not. They happened all the same.

               As much as it was stupid, it was refreshing to hear. Everyone else looked at us with pity deep in their eyes. Sometimes it was worse, a nervous concern that we might be time bombs, waiting on us all to bring the mad clown’s armies back. The town was run down enough without their jackbooted legions stomping in and roughing up the place. There was no peace when the enforcers came to town. They were famous for tearing apart street vendors, sighting unpaid fees and absent legislation. They called them thieves, dissenters and traitors to the crown.

               Jooheon was usually able to chase them off. It wansn’t that he was big. If it had been a matter of mere muscle the jackboots would never have started breaking down stalls. Wonho’s family sold ramen on the market corner. He was the largest of us seven, towering over nearly every enforcer and grown man in the city. Those he didn’t beat in height he managed in width for his shoulders were broad and strong. He was the one who hauled his mother’s entire set up out to the street on market day, carefully assembling and taking down their stall.

               The iron kettle that they cooked with was enough to stagger the step of any sensibly proportioned person. Wonho took it easily, carrying the pot in one hand and a sack of flour for the noodles casually in the other. Kihuyn had said it was a trick once, insisting that there were two kettles and he was just making fools of us all. It created a great spectacle and a welcome stir in the city after so much silence. I think there had even been a few bets exchanged.

               It had been a little bit like Excalibur the way everyone made such a fuss. Some of the older gentlemen like Mr. Hee who ran the shoe shop were even good natured enough to play at lifiting the kettle themselves. They made as big a show of being voulenteers as Wonho did, strutting up to the front of the crowd and flexing their arms like they were twenty years old again. Kihyun prodded sensible Shownu into participation, and Minhyuk dragged me into it too.

               Hyungwon was the only one smart enough to voulenteer as a judge. Keeping things fair meant he didn’t have to lift any kettles and could spend most of the morning sleeping in. That was his preferred activity. He’d fallen asleep just about everywhere in Yuan Bi.  The villagers sometimes called him sleeping beauty and were always on us about finding our princess again when we went looking for him. I’d been worried he might be narcoleptic or something like that, but it was nothing so serious. Hyungwon just slept whenever possible and that was that.

               In the end Wonho had been telling the truth of course. His gentle nature didn’t allow for many lies or sinister deceptions. Such things worried him, and he preffered to be honest. The closest he came to any malicious intents was in his boasting, but that was rare and he had the strength to stand behind it. He lifted the kettle which no other managed with such grace and for that day he was something of a hero.

               Mr. Hee presented him with a paper crown and a ribbon sash, and when Wonho went to buy things for his mother everyone seemed to throw in a little extra.

               This was both before the jackboots and before Kihyun’s injury, when there were still others in town and it wasn’t dangerous to brag about one’s strength. Nowadays we’d never risk it.

               Wonho was lucky the winter had come, and given him an excuse to wear jackets. It would not seem so strange to keep his arms covered because of the cold, but in summer nothing of his seemed to have sleeves. It was dangerous to be that big. Sympathies lay especially upon him, for all were fearful that he’d be taken from us. No one wanted to seem him go to war.

               He was so gentle. Wonho reminded me of a rabbit, and sometimes I held it in my head, an imagining that he had large ears. They seemed perfectly in place when he was startled. The ought to have just shot up and heighted the look of alarm. Sending him to the front would’ve killed him in more ways then one. Every day I was grateful to see him chopping leeks in the back of his mothers tent and doing all he could to stay out of trouble.

               We often met there, before being chased out by Wonho’s mother. She’d used to give us little bowls to sample before supplies had gotten so tight. We were quick to flee now, for no one enjoyed seeing the strain in her face of all the things she couldn’t provide. She wanted so much to fill us with affection and good ramen, but now our ears filled only with shouts as our feet pounded the pavement.

               We hadn’t been looking out for ourselves very carefully. Kihyun had run himself right into one of the enforcers, slamming his head into the bullet-proof vest the jackboot wore. It came away bloody, one red line that cut across his forehead and dripped into his eyes. Kihyun’s nose became a red slope. Some of the kinder enforcers would’ve brushed it aside, made nothing of it more then a clumsy boy and shouted a few sharp words.

               Kihyun was expecting to be hit with a fine, which would’ve set heavily on his family’s shoulders. It would’ve brought shame and strain but they could’ve survived it. This enforcer just hadn’t been the technical type either.

               He had been the worst of all. A jackboot prone to violence. Kihyun was wise enough to attempt apology despite his bleeding head, but the enforcer was not interested. He stuck the barrel of his rifle between Kihyun’s legs and pulled sharply, tripping him. Kihyun had fallen, back slamming into the packed earth beneath him.

               The jackboot had taken the barrel in his fist, tossing it up slightly to readjust his grip before he brought it down with one hand in a sharp crack. Kihyun’s bone broke, the sudden snapping echoing throughout the market. He’d screamed but it could hardly be heard over the jackboots laughter. They were like a pack of heyenas, and each of their wolves spat on him before they walked away.

               Kihyun couldn’t get up and laid there helpless and crying while we rushed in to assist him. He hadn’t been much of one for walking after that. No one here could afford hospital. The leg healed however it was want too, and when Kihyun felt he could walk on it again he had to use a cane. We all pretended not to notice when he grimaced in pain with his first couple of steps.

               For months we all made a big show of getting tired long before exhaustion hit any of us, just so that Kihyun could feel he was keeping up. He probably knew but he didn’t let on. He was grateful.

               The injury was well remembered. We didn’t run so much after that. No one did. Everyone was afraid of the same thing happened to them. I think that the parents told their kids not to be like Kihyun, like it was some kind of cautionary tale. He would’ve been violently mad if he’d known and probably try and shake it right out of the kids. There was no honor in beating up the youth.

               The marketplace wasn’t as lively as it had been when I was little. We’d all sung in the streets and not feared for anything. The Mad Clowns war had changed it all, and regardless of who won or lost there were causalities of poisoned youth that wouldn’t ever be recovered from.

               “I want one of my own some day.” Minhyuk said.

               He was waving goodbye to a little girl who had come up to us to stare at Shownu’s good luck charm. The bright red tag was one of few colorful things left in the city, and he was an indulgent soul. He’d let her touch it and tug at the embroidery without the slightest hint of irritation. Shownu knew there wasn’t going to be much havoc her pudgy fingers could reach.

               “How can you be thinking of families right now?” Kihyun asked as he flipped up the collar of his jacket, “There’s not even enough for you yourself to survive on.”

               “I said someday.” Minhyuk said

               “Someday when there’s no more war.” Wonho said, happy to be counting amongst the dreamers.

               The way those two could go on about the future was something. If only I could share in their boundless ambitions. My hope of the future just didn’t go that far. It started with wishes for a hot breakfast and ended in dreams of rich dinners. I rarely got either.

               Kihyun shook his head and took a sip of tea, pressing his shaking fingers to the warm cup. The injury had turned him into an old man, that’s what my mother had said. He’d lost all his youth in the jackboot’s rifle.

               “We won’t live to see the end of it.” Kihyun said, “And we’ll be lucky to keep avoiding it.”

               Minhyuk chuckled, “I told you they’re not going to call for us. We’re safe. If they didn’t take us then why should they now?”

               “Soldiers die.” Kihyun argued, “Just because they had plenty of living ones before doesn’t mean they won’t get desperate when the deaths start adding up.”

               We talked in Shownu’s kitchen. His father was sick, and nearly all of their furniture had been sold. They had kept the bed for his dad to rest in. There was one small end table, left for Shownu to eat at and a single chair which we all forfeited to Kihyun when he came over. The rest of us made room for ourselves on the floor. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, and there seemed to be no difference between the temperature outside as inside but it was one of the places we could speak openly.

               Shownu’s father didn’t hear very well. The women in the village did and it felt a horribly callous thing to speak of death so casually around them when it was all of their children who had gone off to war. No one wanted to upset them. Half of the time none of us meant what we said, we just wanted to talk. There had to be someone saying something.

               “We’re probably not even in the system.” Minhyuk said, “If our family’s business’ aren’t registered maybe they forgot to do our birth certificates too. If we weren’t ever born then we can’t ever die.”

               Jooheon put his hands on Minhyuk’s shoulders, patting them roughly and grinning. “That’s the spirit. We need to be immortal. Never die!”

               He held up his glass, eager to toast to the success of his plan. Kihyun rolled his eyes, but I figured I could use some immortality. I tapped my glass to those that had lifted theirs and took a sip of the bitter tea. We hadn’t had sugar in a very long time.

               I missed sweets. What a stupid thing to miss when Shownu had his father’s health to worry over, Kihyun missed his leg and Wonho was constally fretting every moment his mother was alone at the Ramen stand. Hyungwon had it even worse, for he didn’t have to be concerned about his feather’s health- but concerned over his own because of his father. He had not been raised by a kind man. Hyungwon was already half-sunken into a nap in the corner.

               I don’t think he was able to sleep in his own house. His father kept him awake with shouts and sharp words.

               Sometimes there were bruises too. Those were the worst, to see his delicate features so beaten and battered. Hyungwon sometimes spoke fondly of the war, and promised us he wouldn’t mind if the jackboots took him away. He would prefer that harm come at their hands then those of his family. Wonho would steal him away on nights like this, bolstering himself the chill and leaving his window open until Hyungwon could sneak away and climb inside.

               There were nights he really might’ve been dead if he hadn’t had a safe refuge to run too. War wasn’t the only killer.

               He really might’ve been better with the jackboots, but I was selfish and glad they hadn’t taken him yet.

               “If only.” Shownu sighed.

               “Hmm?” Jooheon asked.

               “Immortality.” He said, “If only we had it.”

               I was eager for a new topic of discussion and decided this was as good an opportunity as any.

               “What would you do if you were immortal?” I asked Shownu.

               He shook his head. As it turns he hadn’t wanted it for himself but for his father. I didn’t think that immortality cured injury unconditionally. He might’ve still been sick and just gone on forever with his suffering.

               “I know what I would do.” Kihyun said, “I’d track down that jackboot and break his legs. Both of them.”

               This wasn’t what I wanted to have spent time talking about. I was certain that our childhood what-if discussions hadn’t been so full of sorrow and vengeance before. Minhyuk used to make belive he was an angel that had fallen to earth pretending that he could fly. I wonder if he still remembered that.

               Were we ever going to pretend so freely again, or had the war stolen that from us too? There was so much spoiled food I’d forgotten what it was to be fresh.

               “It’s a nice dream.” Jooheon said. “We’re going to make it a reality someday Kihyunnie.”

               I tried to stuff down my laughter. It wasn’t a good time to make light of it. Any bright outlooks we managed to cultivate we ought to hold dear, but it got out the same.

               “Changkyun?” Wonho asked, “What’s so funny?”

               I tried to play it off as a cough, making guffaws in my hand and taking hurried sips of tea. The bitter flavor did cause a few genuine coughs to make their way to the surface.  It was a shame that they all knew me so well and kept prodding me to share, assuring me they liked jokes.

               “It’s nothing.” I said, “It’s just what Jooheon said. We’re powerless, how do you ever expect us to hunt down one of the jackboots?”

               Jooheon was grinning instead of getting mad. That was never a good sign. He made dangerous plans when he was amused like this. I’d seen him mouth off to jackboots and every time I feared that they would smash his skull to pieces. They had to know him by now. There was no way he wasn’t in the system.

               I think there had even been a warrant for his arrest. I didn’t understand any of their legal system but somehow Jooheon was smart enough to have gotten away on a technicality which only frustrated the enforcers further. I hoped it would never catch up with him.

               “That’s where you’re wrong. Mr. I.M.” Jooheon said. He stretched his eyes as wide as could be allowed and dropped his mouth into a perfect O shape, like a surprised cartoon character. He made a big show of checking over each shoulder to make sure we weren’t being watched. It was smart of him, but I could’ve done without the theatrics.

               When he was at last assured that we weren’t being spied on and that he had the attention of everyone in the room he removed a blue flower from his coat. It was too bright to be believed, much in the same way that Shownu’s good luck charm was. The color shocked us all, entreating us to look closer.

               “What is it?” Kihyun asked.

               Minhyuk was the first to pick it up, pinching the stem between thumb and forefinger and gently twisting it. There was a large blue blossom at the top and several smaller buds and leaves running along the stem. It was beautiful.

               “This is going to give us all our strength back.” Jooheon said.

               He took the flower back from Kihyun and cradled it in his hands, before gently lifting it to his nose and inhaling deeply. He passed it to us and encouraged us all to do the same. Minhyuk was eager to try. He broke into a smile after smelling it, then nodded twice and passed it to Wonho. Everyone could count on bright Minhyuk to give them their desired reaction, so I waited to see how some of the skeptics took it before I made my own conclusions.

               It came past Wonho, through Shownu and then down to me. They hadn’t grinned like Minhyuk and when I smelled it the flower was fresh but nothing especially overwhelming. It wasn’t even like a rose where the smell would be a distinctly pleasant one. It almost had no fragrance at all. I passed it along all the same and tried to give Jooheon the benefit of the doubt.

               When the flower came back to him we were all eager for an explination.

               “They’ve been using this in the next town over.” Jooheon said,  “I’ve seen the boys who become blue flower priests, watched as they preach to their followers. There is a whole town set up and their ceremonies take place inside a glass house where it always warm even in winter.”

               “I still don’t see what that’s got to do with immortality.” Kihyun said.

               Jooheon scowled and waved the flower under his nose a few more times. Whatever change he was hoping for didn’t happen. Jooheon’s enthusiasim simply couldn’t be diminished though, and he persisted.

               “They melt these flowers down, make them into a rich cerulean liquid which they drink in little cups. When the people live their cheeks are bright and pink, their breath is strong and their steps are certain. Some of the young men in that town banded together and after drinking from the blue flower priests cup they banded together and resisted a group of enforcers. We could do the same.”

               Now no matter if his words were true or not we were all interested. None could resist a draw like that. Hyungwon reached for the flower and Jooheon passed it easily. He took a second sniff and hesistantly opened his mouth. Jooheon nodded and Hyungwon took a bite of the flower.

               We were all willing to let him go first. If anyone needed an extra bit of fortification it was Hyungwon.

               “Do you think it might work on my father, and the other sick men in town?” Shownu asked.

               Jooheon nodded assuring him that there was a good chance.

               “I just don’t understand how it works.” I said, “What is it? Where does it come from?”

               Jooheon admitted that he did not know.


	2. Chapter 2

               We had all become so enamored with the strange flower, we hardly realized the time. It wasn’t until the sun began to push golden light through the window panes that we had the collective realization of our lateness.

               It wasn’t as though there were many jobs to be had in Yuan Bi. I suppose the one benefit the war gave us was employment, for when all the other young men were called away we were left as the strongest. Hard work meant extra food on the table, which rallied us to find positions quickly. Shownu and Wonho were snapped up in a minute, both of them built strong as oxen. Their easy temperaments were helpful too, and gained them a good reputation.

               Kihyun wanted to stay in school. It was his fondest wish to have continued, and gone to one of the universities a few towns over. He thought it would be better use of his time, since no one was eager to hire a kid with a bum leg. There was just never enough for it, and so he had struggled. Kihyun had tried to go along with Shownu and Wonho at first, insisting he could keep up and lift just as well as they could. This was quickly proven false.

               Kihyun’s work was less consistant, but he found a few tasks down by the river bringing lunch on a tottering cart to the fishermen. He was actually quite the cook when there was enough to be scraped together and called a meal. When there wasn’t he hung about for other work. There was generally someone who would spare him a small bag of rice for untangling a fishing net or helping clean the day’s catch. He preffered when he could sell them hot bowls of rice, or steamed dumplings.

               Rice would keep his belly full, but it would not pay for school.

               Jooheon went off to other towns and never told us what he did. I’d tried to follow him out once, just to see what he was getting up too, but he had made such a row about it. I thought we might actually come to blows. I’d intended to try and follow him again with a good deal more secrecy, but he always managed to slip away before I had the chance. Perhaps today was a new opportunity.

               I was currently working for a telegram service with Minhyuk. We both had bikes. That was probably the only reason why we were hired. When the weather was good there was no job better- but on rainy or cold days it could be quite a pain. The summer heat was often a trial too, but that went with any outdoor work.

               Hyungwon worked at his father’s general store. How it managed to stay open when all others around it closed I did not know. Hyungwon had asked us not to come unless we absolutely needed something. He was often snapped at for wasting time talking to us when he should’ve been working, even if it were a business conversation. Every trip we made there was quick and efficient. It wasn’t uncommon for us to have asked Hyungwon where everything was stocked beforehand. He would make us little maps so we could expedite our shopping.

               “I’ve got to get to work.” Shownu said.

               “I’ll walk with you.” Wonho offered.

               Shownu nodded and we all began to hurry outside. It was a nice day, with the breeze pleasant and not yet freezing. There wouldn’t be many others like this.

               “Do you want a ride Kihyunnie?” Minhyuk asked, “I’ll get you down to the river.”

               He was loathe to accept it, but he knew walking on would make him late. He accepted respectfully, and I was all the more glad for it. Now I would not have to shrug off Minhyuk in order to follow Jooheon- though I was certain my absence would be noted once he got to work.

               We said our goodbyes and hurried on our separate ways. A few of the street’s vendors called out to us, trying to get us to stop and take a look at their wares. They knew it was an easy thing to pass by and I was glad they weren’t disappointed when we all shook our heads and carried on. No thanks. No money.

               I should’ve helped Minhyuk lift Kihyun onto his handle bars. It could be an awkward thing to manage. I thought about it as I leaned against my own, standing up while I glided down the hill. I had to make it look like I was going to work after all, but I kept a watch on Jooheon in the metal’s reflections. All was going well until he turned a corner.

               I hadn’t any idea what to do about that. It hadn’t really occurred to me that he’d pass by any buildings- ours was not an extensive township. I turned around and pedaled back up the hill. Kihyun’s extra weight had sent the pair flying ahead of me. I didn’t have to worry about being spotted.

               It was a tricky thing but I managed it, climbing steadily up the hill and moving at just the right speed to keep my wheels from squeaking. I had to get off and walk the bike along else risk alerting Jooheon to my pursuit. A lot of people in the towns neighboring Yuan Bi knew me by that squeaking sound of late. I really needed to get some grease or oil or something to fix it up.

               I should speak to Hyungwon about it. He would have a recommendation, and if not he would have the only thing in town close enough to a quality product. I could make do.

               Jooheon was headed towards the highway. It went right past our little town. Any cars that went by would hardly see us for more then a second before the tar and asphalt carefully laid carried them swiftly away. There was a tunnel with a dirt row below the highway for people like us to pass under. It wasn’t constructed with the thought of frequent travel, for though the tunnel was long no one had installed lights. This made it a good place for anyone looking to get up to dubious activity.

               It also was a good place to get robbed if one wasn’t careful. Jooheon shouldn’t have gone here alone. It was almost unspeakably dangerous. I felt like leaving my bike outside, lest it be taken from me. To cast it aside was to all but giftwrap and hand it over to the scavengers. Jooheon donned a black cap before disappearing into the tunnel.

               I waited by a nearby bush. It had lost most of its leaves and offered no cover were he to look back and find me waiting. I wasn’t really afraid of that eventuality though. If he hadn’t looked back before getting swallowed by shadows he wasn’t going to do it now. No, my concerns were wholly selfish. I was worried for my own wellbeing.

               The curiosity goaded me ever onwards. I had to know where these things had come from, and what Jooheon did all day. I didn’t want to believe that he had fallen in with the gangs of raiders that prayed upon simple travelers. He’d always seemed too kind for that sort of thing. Jooheon was the type to get a wide-eyed fright from ghost stories. He complained of being unable to sleep on Halloween.

               If he wasn’t afraid of this tunnel then I had no reason to be. I closed my eyes and took a breath. I took my first step away from the bush while my eyes were still shut. By the time they were open I would already be on the path, and it would be harder for me to stop then to carry on.  I didn’t have to worry about being seen, for some reason the screen of self-imposed darkness made me feel safer. I only got a brief second of light when I opened my eyes before I passed beneath the shadowy arch of the tunnel.

               Very little came from the other side. I could see it in the distance but from where I stood it looked the size of a cereal bowl. Someone had filled it with sunlight instead of milk. I marveled at how the distance could change things. By the time I reached that end of the tunnel this end would be just as small.

               I took a moment to listen. The only sound was the wind howling through from the other side. It’s speed and chill was somehow amplified in tighter quarters. I could feel it through my jacket and the gust caused an unpleasant shivering.

               I didn’t hear Jooheon’s footsteps. He must’ve made it through already. I put all my fears to the side and carried on. The bike handles jostled in my hands, causing a painful vibration in my palms. I did my best to ignore it, but as it effected my speed the bike began to squeak. In this cavernous underpass it sounded a lot like a bat.

               The ground was uneven. I couldn’t see what was scattered over it, but I felt it crunch beneath my feet. It sounded a lot like glass. Maybe the raiders had taken to drinking, and littering the ground with their old sake bottles.

               I tried to remember if I’d ever been through the tunnel before. Surely there was a town on the other side, much like the one Jooheon had spoken of with the Blue Flower Priest. Minhyuk and I went all over, wherever the telegram service told us too. If there was a town I should’ve surely been sent to it. I could from memory recite the names of cities when shown a map of our region, but no matter how hard I wracked my brain I could not recall what was supposed to be on the other side of this highway.

               Maybe it was just the air. When everything came in such a rush it could be difficult to keep it all straight. I had the overwhelming desire to stop. If I could only sit down and think then I could sort this all out.

               I urged myself to keep going. I think all seven of us had similar versions of this inner speech. Shownu would surely coach himself to lifting just one more crates after a thousand had already been shifted. Kihyun must have a speech prepared when his rage overwhelmed him, and he had to hold himself together as the jackboots passed by. I was lucky to only have to coach my feet to keep going. There was little exhaustion in that, and an end in sight.

               The other side was bigger than a cereal bowl now, larger then a dinner plate or any other culinary implements really. If I had been upon it, and it were truly the size it appeared right now I could’ve crouched down and squeezed my way through it. The bike would not have fit though. Better that we had longer to go.

               My feet came down in another harsh crunch. It had felt a curved surface moments ago, but now it was nothing. I heard the sound of a jangling bell in the distance, echoing from the way I had just come. I was about to turn towards it, but a rush of cautionary tales overwhelmed me. Whenever distraught heroines of foolhardy heroes endured tasks like this, turning to look behind usually spelt death.

               I kept on and did my best to ignore the bell. I’d forgotten the name of the greek hero who had gone to the underworld to try and bring his dead girlfriend back to life. I knew it started with an O, so rather then fixate on the bell I started running through every European “O” name I could think of. Oswald, like the penguin from the comics. He was a villain though, not a hero.  Oscar didn’t seem right either. I hadn’t made an extensive study of Europe so I couldn’t be sure- but it didn’t strike me as a particularly Greek name.

               It didn’t matter. Whoever he was, I would not fall to his mistakes. I pressed onward. The crunching became louder. I was crossing more and more of whatever it was beneath me. I really began to hope that it was glass, and not something more frightening, like bone. Jooheon would never have been able to pass through a tunnel of bones with such confidence. It had to be glass. I shouldn’t be worried about little dead things.

               I should be worried about the tires of my bike being punctured. I didn’t exactly have the money to repair them if they burst. There would be no more shredded pork mixed in with chow fun, no eggs or chicken katsu to top ramen. It was surprising how well one could get by on noodles and broth, or just rice when one had too. It was better always when one didn’t.

               The tunnel at last was coming to an end. I could see the light shining down on the many scattered crunching things. To a one it was all blue bottle glass. I had been right. Coming out of the tunnel I could see a town in the distance. I could not see Jooheon anywhere. I hurried off into the trees and made a quick inspection of my tires. I was so very fortunate to not have any damage. When I climbed aboard the bike again it rode as beautifully as ever. I did not sense anything wrong with it.

               I didn’t have a watch to mark the time by, but just judging by the sun’s position I was certainly going to be late to work. I’d never hear the end of it from Minhyuk. It would be something along the lines of me being the youngest and the weakest, for he had to carry Kihyun all the way to work and had still made it to the telegram station before I did.

               “Where are you Jooheon?” I muttered as I slowly peddled towards the city.

               It must’ve been the one that Jooheon got the blue flowers from for I could see the sun shining off the little glass house he’d spoken about. It actually hurt to look at. There had been white rice paper put up against all of the sides, but there was no mistaking the shine of glass.  I couldn’t see what was inside of it,  but if I had to guess I thought that might be where Jooheon had went.

               This couldn’t be his job, could it?

               No one was going to pay someone to pick flowers. Who was buying flowers when there was a war going on?

               A slight dip in the path led to a downhill slope. I saw Jooheon at last. He wasn’t alone and he was carrying something over his shoulders. It was long, rod-like thing with several blue glass pots hanging from it. I could only assume they were the same glass things that had been littering the floor of the tunnel. His companion also wore a black cap and carried the same strange instrument. There was not enough space between us for me to feel confident in making a swift approach.

               The new town loomed in the distance, unnamed and unknown. A whole day’s work gone on a whim. Maybe if I could bring back some sign from this place, or find someone willing to send a telegram I wouldn’t be fired. It was such a stupid impulse to chase. I didn’t even have my uniform with me. They were very adamant we leave them behind so they could not be forgotten. The telegram office liked to put forth a good image even in our shabby town. The uniforms were threadbare, and bore nametags with previous employee’s names on them- but from a distance I suppose we looked a deal more dignified then we seemed. I think that’s what the office wanted.

               It was becoming a bit of a struggle to find people to send urgent word. They should be happy I’d found this town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you would think and if you would like to see this continued!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading- please let me know what you think and if you are interested in seeing this continued.


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